Factors related to the intention of starting a new business in El Salvador

Abstract

Even though nowadays entrepreneurship is a universal concept, there are still some gaps between understanding entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship, specifically in developing countries like El Salvador; which is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap and provide solutions and suggestions for business administration students and people interested in becoming future entrepreneurs. The factors related to the intentions of starting a new business in El Salvador are the main problem for entrepreneurship in the country. The relevance to these problems is that there are many possibilities to improve the economy of the country, but there are not so many opportunities available for people to do it; furthermore, the lack of financial help and help from the government stops them from becoming entrepreneurs. In the literature review section, the principal factors related to the intention of starting a new business in El Salvador are presented. The literature review is based on other research reviews, general concepts and the researchers' review of opinions of El Salvador. The factors are as follows: cultural and social norms, lifestyle, entrepreneurial aptitudes, perceived opportunities, perceived capabilities and fear of failure and finally, intention of starting a new business. The methods used for this research includes a framework that is presented in order to give a better idea of the relation between the factors. In addition, the software SPSS for statistical analysis was used. Furthermore, a factor analysis, an ANOVA test and a correlation test were conducted in order to accept or reject the hypotheses proposed. The results show that: lifestyle and entrepreneurial aptitudes are strong related to perceived opportunities, perceived capabilities, the intention of starting a new business and negatively related to the fear of failure. Perceived opportunities and perceived capabilities are related to the intentions of starting a new business in El Salvador.